CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - ZetaTalk

143 TIlE Ai URSERY-iilANIi.+~Lmatter of habit. The question has practically passed its contr~vtrsialstage.I’robably the method of propagation - whether by bud orgraft - is not the important factor. ‘I’luz test ttirils on thesize of roots in the grafting process and the methodof trimming the stock ; and tlw greater Iumber of~rlur~ipulntionss the roots receive in the grafting operationrwty have some signifkwce. A whole-rootgrnftrcl tree sl~o~a,lcl be ct,rnparable witlt a buddedtree, the wtire root system (or practically so) beingused in both cases. When it coniesto piece-roots, the questim resolvesitself into the sizes of thepieces, tlwir age, whether fromyoung slw 11 i ng stock or from oldertrees, whether the pieces arc usedrwrcly as nurses wtil the ciorli~t~~m~t~~~ own-rooted. lik certainespcrirnents, the Ike-roots havegi\-Pll hcttcr tlccv~uIIt~ of tlIeIIEx~l\x~sill after years than tlie wll~jleroots ; in other tests the reversehas becr1 the (‘OII-(tltl(lt’ tllilt tilt? ~~llolc~ root is pl’c’f-FIG. 1CN. erallJ1~1 to tllc pitw-root, otlw1